EXCLUSIVE: Lawyers call Bitcoin Core v30 CSAM concerns ‘overblown’
Bitcoin Knots supporters have argued in recent months that a change in an upcoming release of Bitcoin Core could open node operators up to legal attacks. The basic argument is that OP_RETURN outputs larger than 83 bytes, which will be relayed by default in Bitcoin Core version 30, will allow users to upload illegal content, such as child sexual assault material (CSAM), into the mempools of Bitcoin nodes. While the potential for attackers to upload CSAM to the blockchain is far from a newly-discovered attack vector, Knots proponents make the case that the general acceptance of larger OP_RETURN transactions on the network changes the implicit nature of operating a full node and creates a stronger case of liability for full node operators. This is a point of view that has been shared by many individuals associated with the bitcoin (BTC) mining pool Ocean, which has been the strongest proponent of Bitcoin Knots node software up to this point. Ocean founder and Knots mainta...